Step 1 - Becoming More Like Christ
Step 1 – Becoming More Like Christ
Let’s begin to be more like Christ. Pride Alert! Be careful, take every thought captive and don’t fool yourself into believing you are good here. No judgement, but we are talking about Jesus and ALL of us pale greatly in comparison to Him. So regardless of how long we have been walking with Him – we are just beginning to be, we are becoming who He is calling us to be – more like Him. Whether we are a new believer or a seasoned Bible study leader, there is more for us. Jesus is inviting us to take a step closer to Him. Are you ready?
Step 1…
Our first step to becoming more like Christ is growing in knowledge of our Lord and Savior. You see the deeper our understanding of Him grows, the more like Him we will become. But here is the catch – just knowing the story of Jesus, a few of His parables and what the Bible says is not what we are talking about here. We are talking about getting to know Jesus.
How can we get to know Jesus more so that we will become more like Him?
Have you ever noticed that when you spend a lot of time with someone you begin to act like them? Maybe you pick up their accent, or say things the way they would or take on their mannerisms? The same is true of our relationship with Jesus. When we spend a lot of time with Him (not just reading, not just learning, but engaging in a relationship) we begin to become more like Him and less like the world.
We grow in our knowledge of Jesus by spending time studying the Bible, spending time in prayer and engaging in a relationship with Jesus.
· Reading the Bible is Him speaking to us.
· Prayer is us speaking to Him.
· Engaging is inviting Him to come and be with you, asking Him questions, seeking His will, praising His name and worshipping Him.
As we get to know Jesus, we come to understand that He is love. Not love as the world knows, but a pure, unconditional love that we read about in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Have you ever studied those scriptures and realized just how far off the mark we are? Agape love is a deliberate choice of the one who loves rather than the worthiness of the one who is loved. This kind of love goes against human inclination and is a giving, selfless, expect nothing in return kind of love. Can you choose to love more – regardless of their actions, beliefs, and personality? Can you choose to love and become more like Christ?
As we grow in our knowledge of Jesus, we must remember that it is grace that has brought us to Him. It is amazing grace that He has poured out on us so that we could be called Children of God. It is our realization that we are in need of a Savior, our acceptance of His gift of grace that invited us into a relationship with Him. Now, here we are, all with people in our life who do not deserve our forgiveness, and what are we to do? If we want to be like Jesus, there is only one thing to do. Ephesians 4:31-32 says, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” Becoming more like Jesus means becoming better at giving grace.
Let’s visit one more characteristic of Jesus – humility. Humility is not insecurity; it is not thinking less of yourself – it is thinking of yourself less often. That is a struggle for us all. We are self-centered, arrogant, and want to get our way. Those things are far removed from who Jesus is. He sacrificed Himself to the point of death to fulfill the plan God had for Him. That is humility. The only way that we can truly become humble is to be best buds with Jesus. I am not making light here – I am reiterating that we need to know Him more. We need Him. Above everything else in our lives, we need Jesus. Can you see it? We have an adversary named Satan. He is a snake and hisses in our ear, “What about you? Why didn’t they invite you? You deserve that job. You should have a husband like hers. You have worked hard and you deserve better. Did you hear what she said about you? You could have done that so much better than her. You deserve to be recognized. Where is your reward? And on and on…” There is a war raging for you and the only way to do battle is on your knees at the feet of Jesus. We can become more like Him as we lay our selfishness down and apply Philippians 2:3, “Let nothing be done for selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”
In Second Peter, Peter is writing to Christians who are living in an evil world where false teachers were aggressively spreading dangerous heresies. Sound familiar? It sounds much like the time we are living in today, doesn’t it? In this book of the Bible, Peter talks about Godly living, relying on the truth of God’s word, opposing or rejecting false teaching, and being watchful. It is a book about sanctification – which is the action of becoming holy. Peter begins and ends this book with “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” The only way we can move toward becoming holy, for He is holy, is to grow to know Him more.
How do we begin to be more like Christ? We grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior. We get to know Jesus more and more and more and more until we stand face to face with Him. As we come to know Him more, we will become more and more like Him.
Whew! This is a big deal friends. Let’s stay connected and encourage each other to grow to know Him more. Please comment and let’s start a conversation about this. Share this and talk to your friends about how we can become more like Christ. You are not too busy, you don’t have too much going on, because nothing is more important.